2025 Stocco Prosecco Extra Dry Friuli-Venezia Giulia

The family behind Stocco has carried a sword on their crest for generations — 'Stocco' itself is an old Italian word for sword — and the steadfastness shows in every bottle. They farm the Grave terroir in Friuli, a region that sits between the Alps and the Adriatic, where gravelly alluvial soils and cool breezes give Glera more lift and structure than you'd expect from a $20 sparkling.

This is 100% Glera from flat gravelly land, hand-harvested and made using the Classic method. The grapes come from vines trained in the modified Sylvoz double-arched cane system — a setup that controls yields and keeps the fruit concentrated. It's bottled young, as Prosecco should be, and meant to be pulled now.

In the glass: straw-yellow with lively beading, generous floral and fruity aromatics — pear, citrus, white flower — and a soft, balanced palate with fruit-rich notes and just enough off-dry sweetness to make it dangerously easy to finish. This is the kind of Prosecco that makes you wonder why anyone spends $35 on the stuff.

Perfect aperitivo. Exceedingly food-friendly. Pair it with whitefish crudo and a dash of chili, or just pull the cork and let it do the work it was born to do.